Oxygen
by ElfMaidenOfLight
Summary: Stuck on a planet with oxygen running low... will the team survive?


Disclaim- Don't own anything Roughneck

A/N- I haven't written fanfiction in a LONG time, so if you can't struggle through it, I won't force you. I think there is slight OOC on some of the characters, I might be overanalyzing.

Synop.- Takes place after their stuck on some planet (as usual) their running out of air/time (typical) but the hopelessness of this mission leads everyone to believe they won't make it out of there alive.

Oxygen

A huge crash ripped through the craft and sent everyone tumbling through the cabin. The lights flickered and then went off completely.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Get off me!"

"Did Ibanez even pass flight training?"

"That's enough!" A large, ominous outline loomed out of the darkness. "Everyone on your feet…" The troopers moved in the darkness.

"Hey my foot!"

"Shut up Paper Boy!"

"Brutto-"

Lt. Razak shook his head in despair. "Ibanez, can't we get some light down here?"

"I'm trying Lieutenant, but the even the backup generators seem to be fried. So… no light at all I'm afraid."

A long pause.

"Lieutenant…you might want to see this…"

Razak left his troopers in the dark, switching on his helmet light and working his way up to the flight-deck.. "What is it Ibanez?"

"I think we've landed on the wrong part of the planet." All around the ship there was sold rock, the ship was stuck into some crack or crevice.

"Weren't we suppose to land in_ water_?"

"Sorry Lieutenant."

"Whoa. LT, we've got a big problem."

Razak squinted back into the darkness.

By now all the Troopers had switched on their flashlights. Doc stood over Higgins, eyebrow raised quizzically as the journalist nursed a sprained ankle. Gossard knelt next to the ship's power controls, Brutto and Dizzy hovering over him. Rico walked up but Razak cut in front of him, shouldering Dizzy out of the way, Brutto backed off.

"What now, Goss?"

"LT, this couldn't get any worse. It looks like Ibanez was correct about the backup- everything is shot…something must have practically sheered off all but the cabin too- there's no reading from the temperature gauge on the left wing…or the right one."

"What have we got on oxygen."

"Air outside is lethal, and we've got about four hours of oxygen left in here." Gossard ran a gloved hand through his hair. "The beacon is working, so we should be able to send for help…"

_The team soon settles into a very nervous but semi-relaxed state…_

"How long has it been?"

"Two hours."

Dizzy signed, stretched out upon the cabin's floor. Rico came into her view, her flashlight reflecting into his face. "Get away."

Rico rolled his eyes. "You know, I don't get it…the signals been going the whole time, why can't they find us?"

"Yeah, well, once they find us, it won't matter because we'll all be dead at this rate, no oxygen."

"Flores-" A warning voice from across the cabin.

"Sorry Lieutenant."

"Rico…why don't you try to get some sleep." Carmen came over to Rico and toughed his shoulder. "Why don't you rest, like everyone else, it'll do you some good."

They turned away and Dizzy looked after. Everyone was asleep…what else was there to do? Doc, Brutto, Higgins, now Carmen and Rico. The only one up was Razak on guard duty…and Gossard. He was still hunched over that glowing box of wires on the ground.

"Don't you get tired of that after a while?"

Gossard looked up from his work, eyes focusing on the figure in front of him. "Flores."

"Yeah?"

Gossard sighed. "Shouldn't you be back with everyone else?" He leaned down again, flipping a couple switched to see if anything worked.

"And watch Carmen put Rico to bed, are you kidding?"

Gossard shrugged, not really listening.

After a few moments of silence, Dizzy sat herself across from the control panel, watching.

"Shit."

"What?"

Gossard looked up at Dizzy with contempt. "This is hard enough without someone looking over your shoulder."

"Is it working now?"

"No, its is not working now." Gossard looked around at the LT and then back at Dizzy. "We might not have had four hours of oxygen." He whispered.

"What?"

"You see this?" He pointed at a small tube with six of green bars. "Once that's finished, so is the oxygen. And its going down faster than I expected."

"How long do you think?"

"Maybe an hour?" Gossard tried to focus again on the tangle of fried wires and frayed links but he continued to glance up at Dizzy. "Forget this, its useless." He slammed the consul shut and leaned back against the wall.

"Well, I'm not one to wait around to die, lets get out of here!" Dizzy stood up and grabbed for her helmet.

"Flores-"

"Are you kidding me? LT!"

"Can it Flores, no one leaves. It's worse out there than in here."

Gossard grinned.

"Ugh!" Dizzy chucked her helmet at Gossard who caught it easily. Dizzy sat back down hard and switched off her helmet light, the only light left to illuminate the cold blackness was Gossard's. She watched him turn her helmet over and over in his hands, something to occupy his mind with.

"Do you think they'll pick up our signal?"  
"Your talking to me now?"

Dizzy made a face.

"Sure, they might find us." Gossard sighed. "I don't want to think about what will happen if they don't."

_Hours seem to pass but it may only be mere minutes…_

"Gossard, wake up."

"LT?" Razak was nudging him slightly with his foot.

"Something's wrong, the air feels tight already and its only been forty-five minutes."

"Ugh- Okay, I'll have a look at it…" Gossard moved but a heavy weight was on his shoulder. He looked around at Dizzy slumped against him. Careful not to disturb her he get up quietly and moved over to the controls with Razak.

"It seems the oxygen levels have been slowly diminishing at a faster rate…" Gossard yawned as he tried to focus on the levels. "I think we have a little over- well…we should put on our helmets, the suits oxygen might sustain us for longer than this can."

"But we used most of our suit's reserve on the last mission."

"Can't be helped LT."

Razak sighed. "I'll notify the others, you wake Flores."

Gossard watched Razak move down the ship's corridor to the other side. Gossard turned around and knelt down next to Dizzy.

"Hey Diz-" He shook her shoulders slightly. "Dizzy."

"Uhn?"

"Here-" Gossard handed over her helmet. "You need to put this on Diz."

"But I thought you said we had-" As she came out of what was a sound sleep, she was taken off guard by the frantic sound Gossard was trying to conceal in his voice.

"I know what I said, just put it on."

Dizzy clicked her helmet into place and cool, recycled air started to flow around her nose and mouth.

"Where's the LT?"

"Flores, Gossard." They both looked up. Razak was standing in the doorway "Higgins and Ibanez have already passed out, they're on support from Doc and Rico, they can't be moved. Brutto is staying with them, you two need to move into the back with the rest of us."

Gossard was already on his feet, helping up Dizzy.

They moved a few feet but Dizzy stopped. Something was wrong. The air in her suit was slowly becoming constricting.

"Uh oh." Both men turned around to look at her. "My suits going…"

Gossard turned around to her and hooked a line into her suit.

"But-"

"LT, you better go look after the others, I'll stay here." Razak nodded and went into the darkness.

"But Gossard, what about you?"

"Don't worry about it, here." They both sat down in the corridor. "You feeling all right?"

"I'm okay I guess…"

Dizzy looked up at Gossard, he was watching him intently. "We're not going to get out of here alive, are we?"

Gossard looked away. "Don't say that Diz, you don't know."

Dizzy rolled her eyes. "Okay, lets _assume_ we run out of air, what's going to happen?"

"We'll just go to sleep I guess..."

They were silent for a few moments.

"Diz?"

"Yeah?"

"If we don't make it out of here, just…"

Dizzy looked around at Gossard who was focusing on some point in the darkness.

"I like you Diz."

Dizzy grinned to herself, also looking out at the darkness.

"I like you too Gossard, but you have really bad timing."

Gossard chuckled. "I guess, yeah."  
Dizzy leaned against him, awkwardly stretching her legs out to get more conformable. "Our oxygen is almost gone."

"I know Diz."

Gossard pulled her closer as he felt his eye lids grow heavy. He heard Dizzy yawn.

Quietly he drifted off into sleep and in a few moments the entire ship was quiet, no one made a sound.

_Blackness..._

Dizzy woke with a very violent start, sheets wrapped around her body tightly.

"Jesus!" Someone swore very near her ear. Her eyes snapped open and a large man with a clipboard jumped back. Dizzy sat up but a nurse pushed her back against the pillows propping her up.

Someone laughed across the room and Dizzy glared at Rico who quickly busied himself with talking to Carmen who was in the bed next to him.

"Where are we?"

The small nurse looked at her intently. "You and your whole team were found and brought back to base. You're lucky they got to you when they did or some of your friends may not have survived, you were out of oxygen for a few very crucial moments."

Dizzy's eyes widened. She looked over to the beds next to her. Higgins was still out cold but Gossard was up reading a book. He turned a page and then caught her staring at him.

He grinned.

Dizzy grinned back.

"Maybe this time we'll get some time off."

"Don't count on it, the LT's got something in store for us I bet."

A few beds down Razak growled. Dizzy laid back.

"See Goss, told you we'd make it out alive."

"Right Diz, right."

FIN

A/N- I just_ had_ to write this. Review if you'd like.He


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